Isetan was the Tokyo department store that ran a Valentine’s sale in Japan in 1958. Its promotion helped place Valentine’s Day within Japan’s growing commercial chocolate culture.
Valentine’s Day was introduced to Japan gradually rather than arriving as a fully established holiday. Morozoff Ltd. advertised the occasion to foreigners in 1936, and in the 1950s Japanese confectioners began promoting heart-shaped chocolates and Valentine gift-giving. Isetan’s 1958 sale was an important early department-store campaign.
The custom later developed a distinctive Japanese pattern: women traditionally gave chocolate to men, while men reciprocated on White Day, March 14. Chocolate became much more central than greeting cards, flowers, or restaurant dates. The practice also produced categories such as honmei choco for romantic interests and giri choco for colleagues and acquaintances.
Isetan was founded in Tokyo in 1886 as Iseya Tanji Gofukuten and became one of Japan’s best-known department-store brands. It later joined with Mitsukoshi under Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings in 2008. That later corporate connection can cause confusion, but the 1958 Valentine sale is specifically credited to Isetan.